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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28696500">30 Days</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/FloraTheWriter/pseuds/FloraTheWriter'>FloraTheWriter</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Stray Kids (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Acquaintances to Friends to Lovers, Anxiety, Depression, Fluff and Angst, Heartbreak, Humor, Implied Sexual Content, Jealousy, M/M, Moving On, Mutual Pining, Non-Graphic Sexual Content, Reference to Past Adoption, Reference to parental death, Unrequited Love, alternate universe - fake dating, finding love again</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 06:47:28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,402</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28696500</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/FloraTheWriter/pseuds/FloraTheWriter</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“Congratulations! Today’s your lucky day!”</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“You’ve just won an amazing prize!”</p><p>“O-Oh? What did I win?”</p><p> “Me!”</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>?/?, Han Jisung | Han/Lee Minho | Lee Know, Lee Felix/Seo Changbin, Minor or Background Relationship(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>27</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>30 Days</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The couple embraced beneath the sprinkle of fake cotton-wool snow. Fake tears ran down the woman’s cheeks, while the man dropped to a knee, his own eyes filled with fake tears. In the background, a sappy ballad sung by a chesty male voice accompanied the scene. And that was before the second male lead interrupted the proposal, and of course, he was crying too. Everyone was crying.</p><p>“This is so stupid,” Minho mumbled, peeking over Jeongin’s shoulder at the drama he was watching on his phone.</p><p>“There’s nothing stupid about it,” Jeongin shot back, raising an eyebrow without tearing his eyes away from the screen. “Only stupid people think <em> Love in Paradise </em> is stupid.”</p><p>“Hey, kid, you calling me stupid?” Minho braced a hand on the table and leaned down so that he was eye-level with Jeongin. But his youngest brother still didn’t spare him a glance.</p><p>“Of course you’re stupid,” Seungmin wasted no time in adding his unwanted opinion. He slipped into the chair beside Jeongin and swatted Minho away. “If you weren’t stupid, Minho, you’d have graduated two years ago.”</p><p>Minho snorted, not in the least bit offended. “I’m a professional student. Long term and permanent, you know?” He strayed away from the table and hopped up onto the counter beside the cash register, much to Seungmin’s chagrin. He clutched his hand to his chest dramatically and said, “God forbid I graduate and end up like Chan.”</p><p>Chan looked up from his laptop with narrowed eyes. “Yes, yes, of course. God forbid Minho actually starts behaving like an adult.”</p><p>“Like an adult?” Minho made a face. “Minho doesn’t need to behave like an adult. Adults need to behave like Minho.”</p><p>Jeongin was the only one who snickered at that.</p><p>“Hey,” Chan chided, raising an eyebrow at Jeongin. “I’m not supposed to let Minho be a bad influence on you. Mom will kill me.” From the four brothers, Chan was the eldest and naturally, he kept a vigilant eye on Jeongin, the youngest.</p><p>“What nonsense,” Minho frowned. “Mom trusts me with Jeongin.” All three of his brothers looked up at him with raised brows. “What? She totally does!”</p><p>“Maybe she did,” Seungmin said blandly, “before you left Jeongin passed out in the car the entire night when you went to that party.”</p><p>Minho cackled at the memory. He’d been a high school senior at the time. Chan had already graduated and left for college, leaving the strange group of four siblings incomplete. As the oldest, Minho had been expected to take on the responsibility of caring for the two younger ones before he also went off to college, but he hadn’t been very good at it. He’d reached his peak of big brother failure when he’d left a fifteen year old Jeongin passed out in the car while he partied all night. </p><p>“That was years ago,” Minho brushed off his past behaviour. Jeongin was a college freshman now, and he could look after himself. </p><p>“Yeah, well,” Seungmin shrugged, “not much has changed since then. I mean you still party too hard. You’re still irresponsible. And for fuck’s sake, get off my counter.”</p><p>“Technically, it’s not <em> your </em> counter,” Minho argued. Seungmin was just one from the handful of people who worked at the cafe. It had its perks – they got free filter coffee, and when the cafe emptied of customers, it kind of felt like their own hangout spot. Like now. It was nearing 10pm and Seungmin had served the last customer forty minutes ago.</p><p>“Yeah, well, Mr Han wouldn’t appreciate—”</p><p>“Where is he anyway?” Chan chirped, his spreadsheets temporarily forgotten in favour of curiosity. </p><p>Minho gestured to the metal door behind the counter that led to the kitchen. “Probably in there.” </p><p>They didn’t know much about the owner of the cafe, only that he paid Seungmin on time and preferred keeping to himself. There had been a few times where Minho caught a glimpse of his lowered eyes and a mouth set into a permanent frown. He always had his hood up and pulled low over his face. He would’ve seemed shady if they didn’t know he was the owner of the place.</p><p>The cafe was prim and proper with pots of flowers hanging from the ceiling and pastel blue tables and chairs. Not the kind of cafe someone shady would own.</p><p>Jeongin gasped, garnering everyone’s attention. Minho shook his head as the young man stared transfixed at his phone. “Why do you even watch that stupid thing?” Minho asked with a sly grin, itching for an argument. “Things like that don’t happen in real life. Romance is dead, kiddo.”</p><p>Jeongin whirled around to give Minho a venomous look. “Just because <em> you </em> suck at relationships.”</p><p>“Hey, now,” Chan clicked his tongue but no one paid him any attention. Seungmin grinned beside him as if he was watching a comedy movie on the big screen.</p><p>Minho narrowed his eyes at Jeongin, “If I wanted a relationship, I’d have one.”</p><p>The corner of Jeongin’s lips quirked up, “Seungmin said that you don’t date. Ever. Because no one wants to date you.”</p><p>Minho’s jaw dropped, and he turned his deadly gaze to Seungmin who looked anywhere but at him. “Hey, Seungmin, do you want to die?”</p><p>Seungmin grinned, his good humor returning, “Why? I only told Jeongin the truth! Catching him up on how you’ve been spending the past few years.”</p><p>“Listen, everyone wants to date Minho,” Minho corrected him, lifting his chin proudly. “But Minho doesn’t do the dating thing. Like I said, romance is dead. Romantic love is a myth. And relationships are…” he frowned, searching for the correct way to phrase his thoughts. “Relationships are a lot like algebra. Too complicated to understand, too boring to stimulate your interests for long periods, and useless in the long run.”</p><p>“What bullshit,” Chan spoke up now, finally closing his laptop. “That’s not true.”</p><p>“Oh, really?” Minho laughed. “Do you still believe that?” Barely three months had passed since Chan got his heart broken. How could anyone still believe in love after how that ended?</p><p>“Of course,” Chan frowned. “Just because Hyunjin turned out to be an asshole, it doesn’t mean it won’t work out for me with anyone else.” When Minho scowled, he added, “You should try it. Dating, I mean.”</p><p>Minho hurriedly shook his head, “Not a chance, man. I told you, I don’t do the dating thing.”</p><p>“Because no one <em> wants </em> to date you,” Seungmin grinned.</p><p>“Okay, that is not true,” Minho rolled his eyes. “I don’t know why you insist—”</p><p>“Then try it,” Jeongin smirked. “If everyone’s so <em> eager </em> to date you, it won’t be that hard finding a date. Right?”</p><p>“Fine,” Minho threw his hands up in frustration. “Fine, I’ll go on a date if it’ll shut you all up.”</p><p>“On a date? <em> One </em> date?” Chan raised a brow, skeptical. “One date doesn’t prove anything. How about this?” he hummed. “If you can date someone for thirty days, we’ll leave you alone.”</p><p>“Thirty days?” Minho gawked. “You want me to date the <em> same person </em> for thirty days?”</p><p>“Yeah,” Seungmin snapped his fingers, having a possible eureka moment, “I know just the person too.”</p><p>“Who?” Minho raised an eyebrow. “Is he hot?” He honestly didn’t think Seungmin knew many people who could be classified as hot. He’d seen all those people at his book club and he hadn’t been impressed at all.</p><p>But there was that really good-looking waiter that worked at the cafe – and although Seungmin warned him that the man wasn’t single, Minho’s lifelong motto was: <em> Just because there’s a goalkeeper, it doesn’t mean you can’t score </em>. It was something he’d seen in a meme, and it had stuck with him for years.</p><p>Seungmin’s smile widened and he nodded his head toward the kitchen.</p><p>“Oh, fuck no,” Minho snorted. “I’m not dating your weirdo boss!”</p><p>“Keep your voice down,” Chan said in a frantic whisper, shaking his head at Minho’s outburst. “What if he heard that?”</p><p>Minho ignored him and fixed Seungmin with a curious stare. “Is he even into guys though?” </p><p>“Sure,” Seungmin nodded. “He spoke about his ex a few weeks ago.”</p><p>Chan blinked, “I thought you both didn’t talk?”</p><p>“I was uh…” Seungmin scratched the back of his head, and Minho didn’t miss the slight blush that bloomed across his cheeks. “I asked him about this book he was reading and we just got talking about exes and stuff, so yeah…”</p><p>“Well,” Minho clasped his hands together, “if he’s into guys, then we can definitely fuck – date, I mean.”</p><p>When the kitchen door creaked open, the trio all looked expectantly at Minho, broad grins on their faces. Did he really have to do this to prove a point to them? How old were they? Twelve? But he refused to let Seungmin have the last word. Minho was fully capable of dating someone.</p><p>He hopped off the counter and braced himself as he intercepted the man who had been about to walk past. “Congratulations! Today’s your lucky day!”</p><p>The man pulled back his hood to reveal dark, mussed hair and two wide eyes. “What?” his voice was soft and unsure.</p><p>Minho kept his charming smile plastered to his face, “You’ve just won an amazing prize!”</p><p>“O-Oh?” He looked from the trio seated at the table back to Minho. “What did I win?”</p><p>Minho grinned, “Me!” He spun around, giving the man a good look at him. “Fantastic, right? You get to date me for thirty whole days! Just imagine that!”</p><p>“After you called me a weirdo?”</p><p>Oh. Oh shit. </p><p>“Listen, I’m sor—”</p><p>“Seungmin, I’m closing up in fifteen, okay?” He sucked in his puffy cheeks and turned to Seungmin, ignoring Minho’s attempt at an apology. </p><p>“Yeah, we should get going,” Seungmin untied the apron from around his waist, Chan and Jeongin standing up with him. The trio all gave Minho triumphant smiles as they filed out. </p><p>Minho took a deep breath and tried again, “I’m really sorry—”</p><p>“I’m not dating you,” the man gave Minho a hostile glance before he began tidying up the counters. “Not for thirty days. Not even for an hour.” He swiped a wad of serviettes off the counter and with a voice tinged in exhaustion, he said, “I think you’ve been in here enough times to know where the door is, so please leave.”</p><p>“Shit,” Minho muttered as he flung the door open. </p><p>Had he just been rejected? Well, there was a first time for everything.</p><p> </p><p>Three words changed everything. Three words turned Jisung’s sallow world into a kaleidoscope of color. </p><p>
  <b>I’m coming back</b>
</p><p>A simple text that had knocked the breath out of Jisung, that had weakened his knees so that he’d spent the past two hours slumped on the floor of the cafe. <em> He </em> was coming back. </p><p>Felix.</p><p>There wasn’t a day in the last three years that Jisung hadn’t spent thinking about him, missing him, pleading with him to just <em> come back </em> . He’d turned down every single one of Jisung’s requests. He’d blatantly refused. But now <em> he was coming back </em>. </p><p>Every nerve in Jisung’s body felt alive, thrumming with nervous anticipation. His phone buzzed on the floor, the screen lighting up in the darkness. A smile formed on his lips at the sight of Felix’s name. But when he opened the message his heart sank. </p><p>
  <b>My boyfriend is looking forward to meeting you</b>
</p><p>Oh. All of a sudden, the color was sucked out of his world again.</p><p>Jisung had seen those photos Felix had posted on Instagram. He’d seen the man beside Felix, he’d seen the smiles on their faces, the way they’d looked at each other. And still, he’d been stupid enough to think – to <em> hope </em> – that Felix was coming back for him, to be with him again. </p><p>Jisung pulled his knees to his chest and began to cry. </p><p>He wasn’t sure how much time had passed when he heard a knock on the door, the glass rattling. He blinked into the darkness and could make out nothing beyond a silhouette. He took a few seconds to compose himself, wiping away any trace of tears before he crossed over to the door.</p><p>The last person he expected to be standing there was Seungmin’s obnoxious brother. The streetlight illuminated the broad grin on his face and the blue hair that framed his eyes.</p><p>Jisung wasn’t good with people. He didn’t know how to behave around them, how to talk to them, how to be like them. So when he was forced into a social encounter – like now – he turned hostile. </p><p>“What do you want?”</p><p>The young man – what did Seungmin say his name was? Min…? – held out a takeaway box. “I brought you a peace offering.”</p><p>Jisung’s gaze shifted to the box. Donuts. His brows inched upwards, “You brought donuts as a peace offering for the owner of a cafe?” </p><p>A slight blush colored the man’s cheeks. “Well… I obviously didn’t think it through. But it’s the thought that counts, right?”</p><p>Jisung clenched his jaw, unmoved. “What do you want?”</p><p>“To apologise,” the man shrugged. “And to ask you again. You know, about the whole dating thing.”</p><p>Jisung shook his head and pulled the door shut behind him, turning the key in the lock before he stepped out onto the sidewalk. He turned away from the man, staring down at his phone screen where another text had come through.</p><p>
  <b>Maybe the three of us can have dinner together?</b>
</p><p>Jisung turned on his heel, facing the man once more. It was a brash decision that he’d surely come to regret. “Okay.”</p><p>The man seemed stunned, his eyes wide. “I – really? Thirty days – you – you’ll date me?”</p><p>Jisung gave him a bitter smile, “Congratulations. Today’s your lucky day.”</p><p>The blue haired man burst into delighted laughter that filled the silent night. He held out a hand which Jisung pointedly ignored. “I’m Minho.”</p><p>Jisung gave him a firm nod. “Jisung,” he said as he turned away.</p><p>“Hey, you’re serious about this, right? Because my brothers will never let me hear the end of it if you’re just kidding around. They already think I’m a joke.”</p><p>Jisung huffed out a sigh and cast a narrowed glance over his shoulder. “I’m completely serious. You better be too.”</p><p>He started down the street when Minho’s shout followed him, “Goodnight, boyfriend!”</p><p>Jisung pursed his lips. Had he just made the biggest mistake of his life? </p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you for reading! 💗 Comments and kudos are much appreciated! </p><p>To hear me screaming about my kpop girls and boys follow me on twt:<br/>@ flora_stays </p><p>For fic spoilers etc. follow me on IG:<br/>@ florathewriter</p></blockquote></div></div>
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